Side transfer sorting conveyor

ABSTRACT

A sorting conveyor having a plurality of movable plaques on one conveyor base arranged to sort merchandise or similar articles carried on another conveyor positioned at one side of the sorting conveyor. The separation of articles may be controlled by some particular property of the articles such as weight, size, or color, sensed in a known manner. The plaques on the sorting conveyor are activated to engage the articles carried by the adjoining conveyor and change their relative position so that a series of fences can direct the reoriented articles into predetermined paths.

United States Patent Vanderhoof SIDE TRANSFER SORTING CONVEYOR Frank B.Vanderhoof, Lake Forest, N.J.

Assigneez Metramatic Corp., Landing, NJ.

Filed: Apr. 27, 1973 Appl. No.: 355,000

Inventor:

US. Cl. 209/74 R, 198/31 AB Int. Cl. B07c 3/06 Field of Search 209/73,74 R, 82, 111.7;

198/31 R, 31 AA, 31 AB References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1961Seaborn 198/31 AC X 5/1973 Vanderhoof 198/31 AB X 451 Feb. 12, 1974Primary ExaminerRichard A. Schacher [5 7 1 ABSTRACT A sorting conveyorhaving a plurality of movable plaques on one conveyor base arranged tosort merchandise or similar articles carried on another conveyorpositioned at one side of the sorting conveyor. The separation ofarticles may be controlled by some particular property of the articlessuch as weight, size, or color, sensed in a known manner. The plaques onthe sorting conveyor are activated to engage the articles carried by theadjoining conveyor and change their relative position so that a seriesof fences can direct the reoriented articles into predetermined paths.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENI EU FEB I 2 I974 SHEET 2 0F 3 PATENTEDFEB l 2 I974 SHEEI 3 OF 3 1 SIDE TRANSFER SORTING CONVEYOR RELATEDPATENTS The invention described herein is of the same general class asthe sorting conveyors shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,190,432,issued June 22, 1965 and 3,51 1,357, issued May 12, 1970. The foregoingpatents are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention 'relates generally to sortingconveyors of the type using carrier bases which slide on transverse rodsand support the articles to be sorted into classes. The patents listedabove describe sorters which received all the articles'from an inputsource which is generally another conveyor. After the sorting action,the various classes of articles are again transferred to a thirdconveyor which carries the articles to another station. The presentinvention eliminatesthe need for these twotransfers and sorts thearticles while on their original conveyor. Movable plaques are caused toextend over the edge of the conveyor and engage articles on an adjacentconveyor, pushing them transversely on the conveyor surface todesignated positions where they may be collected into classes.

The invention comprises a sorting conveyor comprising a plurality oftransverse rods, secured at their ends to endless chains and supportingplaques which can be moved along the transverse rods. Power means movethe chains to direct the rods and bars through an upper operating planewhere the bars and their plaques may be displaced to provide a sortingoperation. On the return trip the rods are moved through a lower planeand the plaques are returned to their original positions. A plurality ofcams are arranged just under the upper plane of the rods to engagevertical cam followers (one on each plaque) to move the plaques to theirsorting position. Gates at the head of the cams are operated by thesensing means to control the sorting action. Two types of sorters areshown, one which moves articles to selected positions on a secondconveyor so that they may be grouped in classes at the end of theconveyor. A second type includes a sorter action where selected classarticles are moved to selected positions along the length of theconveyorso that they may be grouped in classes by fences which move the articlesoff the edge of the conveyor.

Other details of the invention will be disclosed in the followingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. I

BRIEF DESCRIPTION or TIIE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a plan view of thesorter-conveyor showing articles arranged in three rows by the movableplaques.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of one of the supporting rods, aplaque, a cam follower, and a cam taken on line 2--2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the sorter-conveyor arranged to push articlesto a collecting position where fences can move them to other conveyorsadjacent the outer edge of the second conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view (to an enlarged scale) of a plaque ontwo rods taken on line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the two conveyors shown in FIG. I.

FIG. 6 is an end view of the twoconveyors showing the positions of thephotoelectric sensing means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT to a gear box 17 which in turndrives pulleys 18 and 20 and a belt 21. These components are similar tothose shown in the patents listed above.

FIGS. 2 and 4 show the details of the plaques 14 which slide on the rods13. A cam follower 22 is mounted at the bottom of each plaque. The camfollower 22 comprises a cylindrical metal stud extending downwardly inthe path of a linear cam 23. The leading edge of some of the cams 23 asshown in FIG. 1, are connected to a gate switching means 24a or 24bcontrolled by a sensing device to either engage a passing cam follower22 or permit it to pass by without disturbing the cam follower and theplaque direction.

A second article conveyor 25 is mounted adjacent to the sorting conveyor10 and includes a flat endless belt 50 formed of a strip of fabric,hinged metal plates or the like. This conveyor 25 is run by a secondmotor 26 coupled to the belt 50 by means of a flexible band 27 and twopulleys. The second conveyor 25 is supported by legs 29, portions of theconveyor being secured to legs 15 of the sorting conveyor 10. The secondconveyor 25 is disposed parallel with the sorting conveyor and mayextend for a considerable distance before and beyond the sortingconveyor 10.

Articles to be sorted, indicated at 30 are moved along the secondconveyor and adjacent the side of the sorting conveyor in a single line,along a limiter fence 31 and initially in contact with each other. Forsorting by the sorting conveyor '10, the articles 30 must be separated adefinite distance. A helical screw 32 with an initial'sharp enteringwedge 32a is employed for this separation. The thread spacing or pitchof the screw is thereafter increased until the final separation equalsthe desired article spacing. The helical screw 32 is journalled within abracket 33 and is driven by motor 26 so that it always turns at a speedrelated to the moving conveyor belt 50.

As shown in the three row embodiment of FIG. 1, the articles 30 aresorted by being moved a maximum distance, an intermediate distance, orby leaving the articles in the same row in which they left the screw 32.Three channels formed by fences 34 guide the articles moved to thesepositions and transfer them to other areas where they may be processedor packed for shipment.

FIG. 3 shows an alternate form of the present invention where thearticles 30 are either left in their original position on the belt 50 ormoved laterally to a position 30a where they may be collected by a firstfence 35 and moved to an additional conveyor 36 angularly disposed withrespect to the belt 50. Some articles may have their sorting transferdelayed until they have been carried beyond fence 35. Then they aremoved to the sorting position 3012, collected by fence 37, and moved toanother output conveyor 38. It is obvious that additional sorting meanscan be provided by extending the length of the sorting conveyor andincreasing the number of sorting areas and fences.

The sensing means 40, 40a, which determine the action of gates 24 areshown in FIGS. 1 and 6 and may be of conventional construction,well-known in the art. In FIG. 1, the sensing means 40 may include asource of light and a directive optical system which shines a light beamacross the conveyors 10, 25 and into housing 41, within which there is aphotoconductive cell and wiring means to control a solenoid coupled togate switching means 24a. Details of such a system are wellknown in theart and are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,357. A second sensingarrangement 40a similar to the first is positioned adjacent to thesecond gate 24b and includes a light source directed at aphotoconductive cell within a housing 41a. Similar devices can beapplied to the conveyor .10 shown in FIG. 3.

The operation of these sorting arrangements will be evident from theabove description. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the articles 30are spaced by screw 32, and moved to a first sensing position indicatedby arrow 42. Current from thephotoconductive cell within housing 41determines whether gate 240 will remain in its inactivated position andpass cam followers and plaques 14 to the left under the control oflinear cam 23. If the gate 24a is activated the plaque 14 will movebeyondthe edge of the sorter conveyor and push the adjoining article 30to the position 300. The cam followers 23 are then engaged by a firstreturn cam 43 and moved part-way back to their original position.Continued motion of the conveyor moves the plaques and their camfollowers 22 to a position where they are engaged by a second return cam44 and pushed back to their original or starting position. If the firstsensing means is not activated but the second one is, gate 24b is swungto catch cam followers 22 and the article carried along on belt 50 ismoved to an intermediate position 30d so that the movement of the secondconveyor belt will direct it between fences 34. Finally return cam 44pulls these plaques back to their starting position.

The operation of the sorting device shown in FIG. 3 is similar to thedevice shown in FIG. 1 except that all selected articles are moved thesame lateral distance from their original orientation. Operation of gate240 intercepts cam followers 22 and the plaques 14 move the adjoiningarticle 30a to a position where it will be caught by fence 35. In asimilar manner, operation of gate 24d moves the associated plaques 14 tomove article 30b to a position where it will be caught by fence 37.

All rejects 300 are permitted to move along the conveyor 25 without anytransverse movement to be caught by the end fence 45. Return cams 46 and47 move the cam followers 22 and the plaques 14 to their startingposition after each sorting action.

The spacing screw 32 with the variable thread is preferred since itadjusts the article spacing without shock or vibration. However, asimple gate using an open and close escapement could be used insteadwithout changing the other components of the invention.

It should be noted that the plaques 14 are normalized before leaving theupper plane of the sorter conveyor. This is necessary in order to, movethe ends of the bars away from a conflicting position with the fences 34and the rest of the second conveyor belt 50. There is no real need for alower cam to move the bars but to keep them in place, a double cam 48engages the cam followers on their return trip and places the plaques inthe desired position just before reaching the 24a gate (FIG. 1) or the240 gate.

In order to prevent undue motion of the articles which might causedamage or spillage where liquid containers are being sorted, (FIG. 3),both conveyors 10 and 25 are moved at the same speed.

While the example given employs a simple light beam to control theplaques, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the colorof the articles 30 or their weight may be used for this purpose byemploying light filters or weighing devices as sensors.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new anddesired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A side transfer or side push sorting-conveyor for directing articlesinto a plurality of paths while they are being carried by a conveyorcomprising:

a. A conveyor for moving the articles to be sorted,

b. means for spacing the articles a predetermined distance from eachother;

c. a sorting conveyor parallel to and in side-by-side relationship withthe article conveyor;

d. a plurality of transverse rods on said sorting conveyor,

e. power means coupled to the transverse rods to drive the said rods ina plane parallel to the plane of the article conveyor.

f. a plurality ofplaques slidably mounted on sajd rods and including acam follower on each bar for positioning the bars along the rods;

g. a linear cam for engaging the cam followers and for laterally movingthe plaques into contact with articles on the belt conveyor wherebycertain of the articles are slid to a sorted position,

h. a rockable gate at the entrance end of the cam;

i. and a sensing means for determining the class of an article, saidsensing means coupled to said gate for operating it to either engage ordisengage said cam followers.

2. A conveyor device according to claim 1 wherein the spacing meansincludes a rotating screw for engaging the articles between successiveconvolutions and separating them a predetermined distance.

3. A conveyor device according to claim 1 wherein the transverse rodshave their ends secured to a link chain.

4. A conveyor device according to claim 1 wherein the cam followerextends downwardly from the lower surface of the plaque.

5. A conveyor device according to claim 1 wherein the sensing meansincludes a beam of light and a photosensitive cell for separating thearticles into classes having different linear dimensions.

6. A conveyor device according to claim 1 wherein the articles in thesorted paths are collected by a series of fences also arranged along thelength of the sorting conveyor.

7. A conveyor device according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of linearcams are mounted under the transverse rods and cause the plaques to pusharticles into a plurality of paths on the sorting conveyor.

8. A conveyor device according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of returnlinear cams are arranged under the transverse rods to return the'plaquesto their original retracted positions.

at u: 1i k

1. A side transfEr or side push sorting-conveyor for directing articlesinto a plurality of paths while they are being carried by a conveyorcomprising: a. A conveyor for moving the articles to be sorted, b. meansfor spacing the articles a predetermined distance from each other; c. asorting conveyor parallel to and in side-by-side relationship with thearticle conveyor; d. a plurality of transverse rods on said sortingconveyor, e. Power means coupled to the transverse rods to drive thesaid rods in a plane parallel to the plane of the article conveyor. f. Aplurality of plaques slidably mounted on said rods and including a camfollower on each bar for positioning the bars along the rods; g. alinear cam for engaging the cam followers and for laterally moving theplaques into contact with articles on the belt conveyor whereby certainof the articles are slid to a sorted position, h. a rockable gate at theentrance end of the cam; i. and a sensing means for determining theclass of an article, said sensing means coupled to said gate foroperating it to either engage or disengage said cam followers.
 2. Aconveyor device according to claim 1 wherein the spacing means includesa rotating screw for engaging the articles between successiveconvolutions and separating them a predetermined distance.
 3. A conveyordevice according to claim 1 wherein the transverse rods have their endssecured to a link chain.
 4. A conveyor device according to claim 1wherein the cam follower extends downwardly from the lower surface ofthe plaque.
 5. A conveyor device according to claim 1 wherein thesensing means includes a beam of light and a photosensitive cell forseparating the articles into classes having different linear dimensions.6. A conveyor device according to claim 1 wherein the articles in thesorted paths are collected by a series of fences also arranged along thelength of the sorting conveyor.
 7. A conveyor device according to claim1 wherein a plurality of linear cams are mounted under the transverserods and cause the plaques to push articles into a plurality of paths onthe sorting conveyor.
 8. A conveyor device according to claim 1 whereina plurality of return linear cams are arranged under the transverse rodsto return the plaques to their original retracted positions.